Yesterday afternoon we got together with some great friends for some fellowship and food. We have known Joyce and James for over 29 1/2 years. We lived just two houses apart for 4 years. They moved first from the old neighborhood, and we followed two years later. We have been living about 15 minutes from each other for the past 23 1/2 years.
We arrived at their home around 4:00 p.m. See...retirees can do that on a Friday afternoon, or any afternoon. We try and get together a couple of times per year. It isn't easy to co-ordinate schedules because both couples have a very busy travel schedule. Joyce and James are great people. They are both retired teachers and are very talented individuals. They are certainly enjoying their retirement.
We decided in advance to have a lamb dinner. Whenever we get together, there is never a shortage of wine or food. So we started with some wine and appetizers. Our appetizers were an olive tapenade, sauteed shrimp with onion, red and green peppers, and slices of gouda cheese. Everything was very tasty.
Bob's responsibility was to prepare three racks of lamb. The lamb came from Costco. He cut off all the excess fat...there is always a lot of fat on the racks. Everyone agreed on double cuts so Bob did his magic with the knife. I prepared the marinade. It was made with fresh rosemary, thyme, and mint (all from our herb garden) along with lots of garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. The aroma was wonderful. We let the lamb marinate for about an hour. More time to visit.
While Joyce and I prepared the rest of the dinner, Bob and James put the lamb on a nice hot grill. As you can see it is already dark (a good thing we started at 4:00) and raining. It has been cool and rainy all week. This weather wasn't stopping the guys. They were on a mission.
For dinner, we planned lamb, oven risotto, steamed vegetables, salad with candied walnuts and dried cranberries, and cheese biscuits. I warned you...never a shortage of food. And of course, we had to have dessert...Joyce's Key Lime Pie. This pie isn't the same as my earlier posting...it it a whole lot better. Sorry, no picture of the pie! By then we were all fat and happy.
A good time was had by all...here's to great friends!!
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